Social Sellers Spark Global Phenomenon

A new breed of social sellers has taken to global consumer-to-consumer trading.

What do you do when you’re done with that old TV? If you’re like 250 million other people around the world, chances are you’ll sell it for some extra spending money. During the past 12 months, more than a quarter of a billion1 people globally have engaged in the growing trend of consumer to consumer trading, creating a new breed of social sellers2, according to a study commissioned by eBay Classifieds Group.

The study examined the patterns and attitudes of 9,000 respondents across nine different countries on trading with other consumers in their area. Additional internal data further supports the revelation of the growing social selling trend, with a total of 221 million3 classified advertisements posted across eBay’s online classifieds sites in 2010, a 22 percent increase since 2009. What’s more, all this trading is generating a healthy income: a full 20 percent4 of this budding business generation has made more than £100 in the past 12 months via trading used goods, according the report.

“We have seen dramatic growth in both supply and demand on our sites over the past year as people look at how they can make some extra money,” says Jacob Aqraou, General Manager, eBay Classifieds Group. “More and more consumers are beginning to understand that they are sitting on some extra pocket money and that there is money to be made through selling unwanted goods rather than simply throwing them away. With such high wastage, we expect the social selling trend to continue to grow in 2011.”

The Netherlands takes first place for the most active social sellers of the nine countries involved in the study, with 77.8 million advertisements posted on the eBay Classifieds Group site Marktplaats.nl in 2010. Not only does this nation of traders have approximately four online classifieds adverts to every person, it has seen an increase of 28 percent since 2009, and in the past year, one in 10 (10.2 percent) of those who have sold online in the Netherlands have made more than €300.

World Wide Waste: 3 billion re-saleable products thrown away Despite the growing trend of social selling evident from both the internal and external data, a large amount of products are still going to waste, with more than 300 million people admitting that they have thrown something away which they could have sold. With the average person throwing away at least 10 products that could have been sold, there is a global wastage of 3 billion re-saleable products across the world.

The Netherlands has proven both its entrepreneurial and its recycling spirit, with more than one quarter (27.9 percent) of the population selling everything they can rather than throwing products away. Italians land at the bottom of the bunch, with 84 percent throwing items away which could otherwise be sold.

2011: A year of growth Not only does the report reveal growth during the past 12 months, but more than two thirds of respondents claim they are more likely to buy and sell goods in 2011 compared with 2010 in order to make extra money. This is especially true in the UK, with more than three quarters (77 percent) of Britons saying they will increase consumer to consumer trading and reduce wastage of products which could be sold. This is likely in response to a recent tax increase.

“The report reveals that more people intend to buy and sell goods from other consumers whether at a car boot sale or from a classified advert,” Aqraou continues. “We’ve certainly seen this happening across our sites. Our latest figures show an increase of 39 per cent in the number of postings in January 2011 compared to the same time last year.”

Glocal Trade Report – Social Sellers League Table

Country

2009 Trade rating

2010 Trade rating

Position change 09 to 10

Netherlands

1

1

-

Canada

2

2

-

Denmark (Bilbasen and dba.dk)

3

3

-

Germany

4

4

-

UK

6

5

? 1

Spain

5

6

?1

Italy

8

7

? 1

Australia

7

8

?1

South Africa

9

9

-

Additional statistics

The most entrepreneurial age in the UK for buying and selling online is 26 to 35 year olds (22.8 percent). The least is the younger generation – 18 to 25 year olds (14.4 percent).

1.8 million Brits claim to have made more than £300 – bringing a national income of £541.8 million.

A quarter (25 percent) of Australians believe they have saved between 50 and 75 percent through buying from another consumer instead of from retail.

Canadians are quite prudent / savvy when it comes to making money from unwanted items, with one fifth (21 percent) selling everything that they can rather than throwing things away.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of Germans say they sell everything can be sold rather than throw it away – second highest of the countries represented behind the Netherlands (27.9%)

11.6 percent of German respondents stated they made more than 300 Euros – projected on the German population this would bring a national income of €2.7bn

1 Source: Redshift research completed January 2011, 9,000 recipients across nine countries (UK, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Australia, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands): 67% across the nine populations give 251,691,018.12 people have bought or sold something from another consumer to make/save money in the last 12 months2 Social sellers is a phrase coined from the study referring to consumer to consumer trading, highlighting the aspect of trading goods with peers3 eBay Classifieds Group – internal data. Total number of live ads January to December 20104 Redshift research of 9,000 respondents